Method

01

Combine half the yeast and 80ml lukewarm water in a bowl, stir to dissolve, stand until creamy (8-10 minutes). Stir in 70gm flour until smooth, cover with plastic wrap, stand until doubled in size (15-20 minutes).

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200C. Combine raisins, cedro, candied orange and citrus rinds in a bowl, dust with remaining flour and set aside. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead lightly until smooth, roll out to a 1cm-thick oval and scatter with half the fruit mixture.

05

Roll into a cylinder, roll out again to a 30cm-long oval, scatter with remaining fruit mixture and roll into a cylinder again.

06

Shape into a ball, place in a buttered and base-lined 20cm-diameter, 10cm-deep loose-bottomed cake tin.

07

Cut a shallow cross in dough, cover and stand until doubled in size (2-2½ hours). Bake panettone for 10 minutes, reduce oven to 190C and bake for another 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 170C and bake until dark golden and a skewer withdraws clean (40-50 minutes). Cover panettone with foil if top gets too dark. Cool in tin for 30 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Panettone will keep, wrapped in plastic wrap, in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. It is best served warmed or toasted after 1-2 days.

Dried and glacé fruit are a common theme when it comes to
Christmas sweets and treats from European countries. Think of the
dense, booze-soaked fruit cakes, puddings and tarts of English
origin, which have been so widely adopted here in Australia,
despite our seasonal differences. Or perhaps German stollen, a sweet Christmas
bread studded with glacé cherries and dried fruit, sometimes with a
luscious marzipan centre but always finished with a generous
dusting of icing sugar. The Italians have their own version of a
festive bread - panettone, a buttery, lightly sweetened,
egg-enriched dough with a distinctive cupola-shaped top,
traditionally studded with raisins and candied citron. Visit just
about any Italian delicatessen or greengrocer at Christmas time and
you'll find a wide selection of panettone including more modern
versions that have been stuffed with chocolate chips or
limoncello.

There are almost as many legends attached to the history of
panettone as there are versions of the bread. But a common thread
is its place and time of origin - Milan, dating back, in one form
or another, to the Roman Empire, when ancient Romans sweetened
leavened bread with honey. Even the origins of panettone's name are
somewhat mysterious. Some historians claim it derives from the
Italian "panetto", meaning small bread loaf. Conversely, panettone
literally means large bread. Or it may have come about at the time
of its first recorded association with Christmas, which occurred in
the writings of an 18th-century illuminist who referred to it as
pane di tono, meaning luxury bread. But it wasn't until the early
20th century that panettone became widely adopted by Italians as
their Christmas bread. This was due to large-scale production by
two rival bakers, Angelo Motta and Gioacchino Alemagna. The two
family companies were bought out by Nestlé in the late 1990s, and
they have since been taken over by the Italian bakery company
Bauli.

So, if there's so much commercially produced panettone out
there, why make your own? It's a labour-intensive and
time-consuming process (multiple proving is necessary to ensure a
light and airy result)and may not yield a perfect-looking panettone
(although this will improve each time you attempt the recipe). But
the pay-off is a delicate, preservative-free, top-quality panettone
that hasn't travelled great distances to get to your kitchen table
(so no air miles to feel guilty about) and is far fresher than any
shop-bought product could ever be.

As always, using the best available produce will ensure the best
possible results. Free-range or organic eggs, great-quality butter
and premium dried and glacé fruit are essential. Seek out a
deep-sided cake tin to achieve the traditional domed shape. These
tins are available from specialist cookware stores. Standard round
cake tins are about 6cm deep, whereas the tin we've used is 10cm
deep. If you can't find such a tin, you can bake the panettone in a
larger diameter shallow cake tin. Although it won't have the same
proportions, your panettone will have the same taste and
texture.

Enjoy your home-baked panettone warm or at room temperature,
with an espresso - or, in true festive spirit, with a glass or two
of Moscato d'Asti and topped with honeycream and berries, as we've
done here.
Salute e buon Natale.